Prayer for the International Day of Happiness
This Prayer for the International Day of Happiness asks God to bless all people of the world with the gifts of freedom, economic wellbeing, equality, sustainable development, just governments and caring, nurturing personal connections with others.
The International Day of Happiness was established by the United Nations in 2013 to emphasis the importance of helping improve the overall wellbeing of people around the world in ways that go beyond simply preventing conflict and war and economic development. It is celebrated on the 20th of March.
This Prayer for the International Day of Happiness adds the dimension of God’s love and power to this endeavor, which is essential to the finding inner peace and life meaning.
Prayer for the International Day of Happiness
Dear God, Creator of us all, we come to you today praying that you will bless our endeavors to elevate the condition of all of our brothers and sisters around the globe.
We thank you that you command us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:29) You also say that whenever we serve others with compassion we are serving you – Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40 NIV)
And so on this International Day of Happiness we pray for the things that you desire for all people of every nation and of every race that they might live fulfilling and contented lives.
We pray for the gift of freedom for all our brothers and sisters that all be able to choose their path in life. Grant all the right to have a say in how they are governed and may they enjoy the ability to openly discuss their viewpoints. Give them the freedom to worship and practice their faith as they desire. Free them from corrupt systems and grant them true and equal justice. We claim this scripture for all people, “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” (Amos 5:24)
We pray for peace in all nations. May the day when “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for way anymore. Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.” (Micha 4:3,4)
We pray for economic stability and job opportunities for all of our brothers and sisters that they might have the means to support their families, provide adequate housing and have access to education. For it says in the Bible, “For the worker deserves his wages.” (Luke 10:7 NIV)
We pray for equality and for dignity for all people of every class, sex, race and religion. May all people be treated with respect and kindness. May all people live by the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (See Luke 6:31)
We pray that we will act as good stewards of your beautiful earth. May all people enjoy development that is environmentally sustainable, healthy and compatible with the needs of the plants and animals with which we share the earth. We acknowledge that, “The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.” (Psalm 89:11 NIV)
We pray that all of our brothers and sisters throughout the world may have the nurture, care and support of others. May they be connected to each other through bonds of love and may their life have meaning and their suffering have hope because of the caring people you send to share their life journey, dreams, hopes and desires. We pray for strong family units, that each child have a loving caregiver and that each person of age, disability or mental illness have a place of welcome in their community. We pray that you will abolish loneliness, isolation, prejudice and division and gift us with companionship, neighborliness, acceptance and inclusion.
Help us to see ourselves as parts of the same body as the Bible describes how God’s people are intimately connected, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body…so there should be no division in the body but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (I Corinthians 12:12,25,26 NIV)
And finally, we pray that each person will be blessed with the knowledge that God loves them and wants to have a close relationship with them. We thank you that the Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16,17 NIV)
We pray that you will continually open our hearts and minds to our brothers and sisters across the globe so that all might live their lives in the peace and prosperity that only you can give.
Amen
About this prayer for the day of international happiness
Although happiness is often viewed simply as an emotion that results from circumstances, scholars and statesmen have begun to take into account the quality of human life as it relates to government, policy and developmental practices.
The United Nations has published an array of reports on happiness as it relates to the conditions under which people live. The objective is to identify those factors or the “better life index” that free people to pursue lives of peace, contentment and personal achievement.
Each year countries are rated on their “global happiness rankings.” Data is compared on a countries on “all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance.” For instance, a country may be economically stable and citizens may be enjoying a decent standard of living but may not have personal freedom, so their ranking would be lower in the happiness score than a country where citizens had more freedom. Also, it’s possible for a country to have a division between groups of people, with some enjoying a better sense of personal wellbeing than other groups.
The index also takes into account the following qualities: “high levels of mutual trust, shared purpose, generosity and good governance, income, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on in times of trouble, generosity, freedom and trust, with the latter measured by the absence of corruption in business and government.”
The Bible prophecies our Savior who is described this way, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord…He will not judge by what he sees with eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth…The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf with the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them…They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:2,3,4,8,9 NIV)
Therefore, it’s fitting that on the International Day of Happiness we lift up prayers that God will lead our noblest efforts toward the brotherhood and sisterhood of all.
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Copyright Karen Barber 2018. All rights reserved.
